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15 New Shale Well Permits Issued for PA-OH-WV Jun 24 – 30
We’re playing catch-up following our brief Wednesday through Friday vacation last week. The first order of business is to bring you the list of permits issued for the week of June 24 – 30. A total of 15 new permits were issued, with most (10) issued in Pennsylvania. Ohio issued four new permits, and West Virginia issued one new permit. Both Seneca Resources and Apex Energy tied for most new permits (three each), with Seneca’s permits issued in Tioga County, PA, and Apex’s permits issued in Westmoreland County, PA.
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Yesterday, MDN told you about a very small lease deal on offer for North Huntingdon Township in Westmoreland County, PA (see 
We’re always interested in lease signing bonuses and royalty rates. We don’t see as many references today as we did five and ten years ago. Typically, we learn about lease rates when municipal-owned land is leased, as is the case for a small parcel in North Huntingdon, PA (Westmoreland County). Apex Energy is offering North Huntingdon $1,500 per acre in a signing bonus to lease 4.5 acres of town land for a grand total of $6,760. It ain’t much, but it’s better than a sharp stick in the eye, right?
As we report in a companion post today, Pennsylvania is currently dishing out close to $180 million in impact fees raised from 2023 shale activity — PA’s version of a severance tax (see PA PUC Distributes 2023 Impact Fee – Revenue Dropped $99M YOY). As the name implies, some 60% of the money raised goes to the counties and municipalities where drilling happens, those “impacted” by shale drilling. The other 40% goes to the black hole of Harrisburg for redistribution to various state agencies and the other counties with no shale drilling. Let’s look at how some counties and towns will spend the money coming their way.
Last December, WATT Fuel Cell Corp. signed a seven-year extension of its lease to keep its headquarters in Westmoreland County, PA (see 
Fake research used by Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) will be allowed in a hearing that appeals permits granted to Olympus Energy to drill shale wells at the Metis well pad in Penn Township, Westmoreland County. The PSR’s so-called research is a mish-mash accumulation of other people’s research that doesn’t apply specifically to the wells permitted by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP). The so-called research is sprinkled with lots of scary words like PFAS and “forever chemicals,” implying such chemicals are being used by Olympus in drilling and fracking its wells — allegations with NO basis in fact. Protect PT, a radicalized group that receives funding from other Big Green groups, is challenging the DEP permits for the Metis pad, using SPR’s so-called research in its challenge. Olympus tried to have the SPR’s throw-enough-crap-against-the-wall-and-hope-some-of-it-sticks “research” tossed from being considered, but the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB), the special court in PA that hears appeals of DEP decisions, refused to toss the crap-throwing “research” out, saying Olympus should challenge said research during cross-examination.
According to recently released data, water sales for fracking activities throughout Westmoreland and its neighboring counties represent only a tiny portion of what is distributed daily to local residential, commercial, and industrial customers. Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County (MAWC) said water purchased by local energy companies, which includes shale and conventional drillers, accounts for just 4% of the more than 11.5 billion gallons that were sold over the preceding 12 months. Whoops! Another lie of the environmental left — that fracking is soaking up all of our precious water supplies — is now exposed.
CNX Midstream, a subsidiary of CNX Resources, plans to construct two 13.9-mile-long, 24-inch-diameter steel natural gas pipelines and one approximately 3.9-mile-long, 20-inch-diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) permanent waterline in Westmoreland County, PA. The aim is to support new shale well drilling by CNX in the region. The reason we know about the project is from a notice by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the weekly Pennsylvania Bulletin inviting the public to comment on a Chapter 105 Encroachments Permit for the proposed construction.
CNX Resources Corporation yesterday announced that it is nearing completion of its Kiski Water Line project in Westmoreland County, PA, which will serve the company’s local operational needs for drilling and fracking. The new water line, due to be done in June, will reduce the local impact of natural gas development (fewer truck trips), and potentially optimize regional water resources by providing additional reliable water infrastructure to area communities.
CNX Resources filed a request with the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April 2023 to build two pipelines — two for natural gas — along a 13.9-mile route in Bell, Loyalhanna and Salem Townships in Westmoreland County. An additional 4-mile pipeline would be built for water. Called the Slickville Trunkline Project, the DEP told CNX last December (yes, it took the agency eight months to reply!) that the application was “incomplete” and that CNX had 60 days to provide the extra info.
Hyperion Midstream LLC, a subsidiary of Olympus Energy, is seeking a special exception to a Penn Township (Westmoreland County) zoning ordinance to build a six-generator compressor station along Wilderness Road over the next four years. In early January, Hyperion representatives and witnesses testified at a township zoning hearing in favor of the plan (see